Oasis found their way to the top
of the charts in their native England and
soon invaded U.S. airways in 1994. Oasis
hails from Manchester and consists of Liam
Gallagher (vocals, guitar), Noel Gallagher
(guitar, vocals, piano), Paul Arthurs (rhythm
guitar, piano), Paul McGuigan (bass), and
Alan White (drums, percussion) who replaced
former member, Tony McCarroll. Oasis has
often been called the new Beatles, following in the
footsteps of similar comments made in the 80s
toward The Knack.

Oasis has found success in the
U.S. with pop, rock and alternative
audiences, but so far their popularity and
musical influence has not equaled their
success in England. Their debut LP, Definitely
Maybewas the
fastest-selling debut LP in England's history
when released.

Oasis has had their share of
controversy on both sides of the ocean. The
private and public disputes between the
Gallagher brothers originally put fear of
break-up in the mind of fans, but soon became
humorous antidotes on video channels. British
press have extensively covered the Gallagher
brothers' laid-back views on drug use, and
Liam Gallagher was arrested and subsequently
released with a warning on suspicion of
cocaine possession.

Controversy also erupted between
the egos of Oasis members and another British
band, Blur. Noel Gallagher
found himself apologizing profusely for
comments he made stating that he wished the
band members of Blur would die of AIDS. As
England awaited the next LP by Oasis, U.S.
audiences seemed weary of the
"bad-band" image Oasis has
attempted to display. When the band appeared
on the MTV Music Awards Liam Gallagher's
actions of pouring beer on the stage and
appearing bored was viewed as more laughable
than rebellious to many viewers.

The much anticipated new Oasis
LP, Be
Here Now finally arrived in U.S. record
stores after selling through the roof in
England. Be
Here Now had already sold over a million
copies in England in its first week of
release (almost 700,00 in the first day of
release), numbers far surpassing the original
fastest selling LP, Michael
Jackson's Bad. Oasis hit the Top 40 with "D'You Know What I Mean."

Noel Gallagher decided to stir
up some verbal controversy (maybe in attempt
to boost sagging U.S. record sales). In
regards to Elton
John's "Candle In The Wind
1997," Gallagher stated: "To be
honest, I think it's a nice tribute... but to
release it on his own label with one of his
own songs on the b-side seems like, shall we
say, lack of foresight on his behalf... it's
like Eric
Clapton writing songs for his dead son.
Then again, people aren't stupid... death
sells doesn't it?" For the record,
"Candle In The Wind 1997" is the
official b-side of the single, and all
proceeds go to charity. "I'm not a fan
of the royal family," Noel said.
"I'm not a fan of Lady Diana. I know
what it's like to be in that position so I
could relate to it in a certain way. You know
it's sad that she's gone but what are you
supposed to do about it?" Gallagher also
said, "The woman's dead. Shut up. Get
over it" and referred to the public's
emotion over her death as "...an
outpouring of guilt, not sympathy."
Gallagher also reportedly referred to George
Harrison as a "nipple," which
is British slang for "idiot" after
Harrison told an interviewer that nobody
would remember Oasis in 30 years. When asked
about Paul
McCartney, Gallagher responded "...
I don't know, I think he's just going senile,
isn't he?"

At the 4th annual MTV Europe
Music Awards held in the Netherlands Oasis
won for Best Rock Act. Oasis hit the Top 40 with "Don't Go Away."

Liam Gallagher was unable to
perform with the band in Dublin due to a
throat infection. The show went on with Noel
Gallagher taking over the lead. Concert goers
were offered a refund, but only 30 fans out
of the 9000 chose to take the refund at the
first no-show. A few days later Oasis left
the stage half way into their performance in
Glasgow, Scotland. A plastic bottle was
reportedly heaved from the crowd and hit the
bassist. The band didn't return and the crowd
was asked to leave, but instead a large
number of the booing fans stayed and
protested. Readers of Rolling
Stone named Be
Here Now Best Album of the Year.

Oasis caused some controversy
when they reportedly were very disruptive
during an airplane flight from Hong Kong to
Australia. The band were said to swear at the
staff and passengers, threw various objects,
and smoked during the 7+ hour flight. A
passenger stated that Liam Gallagher was the
"loudest, foulest, and most
obnoxious" of the group. The incident
resulted in the band being banned from
airline.

More controversy occurred when
Liam Gallagher found trouble in Australia in
the form of assault charges for allegedly
"head-butting" a fan the night
before. The fan reportedly was taking
pictures outside the band's hotel room when
the alleged assault occurred and suffered a
broken nose. Gallagher was then released on
$6,900 bail. The same night Liam was released
on bail, the band appeared at a concert in
Brisbane and reportedly were arguing and
refusing to give an encore. The following
day, Noel Gallagher said, "Last night's
concert was appalling and I apologize. I
can't offer any excuses."

The misbehavior of Liam on an
airplane resulted in him being officially
banned from Cathay Pacific Airways. The
company stated that they will be refusing
"any further carriage of
Gallagher."

Liam Gallagher was arrested
after he allegedly damaged a photographer's
camera at a London pub - Gallagher was
released on bail pending a court appearance
(the charges were later dropped by the
police). The band released The
Masterplan - a collection of b-sides and
covers including "I Am The Walrus."

Arthurs was arrested for drunk
and disorderly conduct in London while former
drummer, Tony McCarroll won a settlement
against the band for "unlawful
dismissal" from the band. Oasis was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Music Video,
Short-Form ("All Around The
World").

Paul "Bonehead"
Arthurs announced that he was leaving Oasis:
"After a lot of consideration I have
decided to call it a day with Oasis. I've had
a fantastic 8 years in 1 of the best bands
ever to come out of Britain, and now I feel I
have come to a stage where I'd like to
concentrate on other things in my life,
outside of the demands of being in a
successful rock and roll band." At the
end of the month, the band lost another
member when bassist, Paul McGuigan announced
his departure from the group - the Gallagher
brothers stated the band would go even though
they are down to a trio.

Oasis were back to a 5some with
the addition of guitarist Andy Bell to the
group (another guitarist, Gem, was added a
few weeks ago).

It was announced that Noel
Gallagher would not be joining his Oasis
bandmates for the next 24 European concert
appearances due to reported clashes with his
brother, Liam. He reportedly told the other
band members that he was tired of touring and
fed up with big brother's heaving drinking. A
replacement guitarist will join Oasis for
their tour.

Noel Gallagher talked with the
BBC about why he chose not to finish touring
with the band: "I have had a major
disagreement with monkey, the singer. It's
been made virtually impossible for me to tour
at the moment because he's been a bit of an
idiot." The band announced that they
would play a free, open-air concert at the
end of June in Paris to make up for earlier
cancelled dates.

Oasis cancelled their
performance at Denmark's Roskilde Festival
out of respect for the 9 who died earlier in
the festival. Later in the month, Oasis walked off the stage after
performing a few songs in Switzerland when
audience members started throwing objects on
stage - festival organizers were claiming
Liam Gallagher's attitude influenced the
audience.

Oasis walked off stage in London
after rocks and bottles were thrown on stage.

In Indiana, 3 members of Oasis
(Noel Gallagher, Andy Bell, and Jay
Darlington) were hurt in a car accident. The
men were riding in a taxi cab and suffered
cuts and bruises.

Oasis cancelled a concert in the
Philippines capital of Manila due to concerns
over recent terrorist attacks in the region.

Members of Oasis were involved
in a brawl in Germany which resulted in Liam
reportedly being detained and facing charges
for bodily assault and resisting arrest. It
was also reported that Liam lost several
teeth during the ruckus.

Oasis' official website stated:
"(Drummer) Alan White has been asked to
leave Oasis by the other band members. There
are no plans to replace Alan. The band's
scheduled recording sessions remain
unaffected."

Noel Gallagher announced that he
had quit Oasis - stating "It's with some
sadness and great relief to tell you that I
quit Oasis tonight. People will write and say
what they like, but I simply could no go on
working with Liam a day longer."

Liam Gallagher announced that he
and the other members of Oasis (without Noel)
were planning to write songs together and
perform as a new group.

Note: Song title and
position links lead you to the song's Top
40 chart run (from the ARC Weekly Top
40)
and LP links take you to Amazon.com for that LP (often
including track listings and sound
samples).